Philadelphia Flyers Notebook: Opening day roster will look familiar

Philadelphia Flyers' Scott Hartnell waves to fans at the start of the first training camp practice session at the team's training facility Sunday, Jan. 13, 2013, in Voorhees, NJ. The Flyers, and other NHL teams, returned after a 113-day lockout ended with an settlement on a new collective bargaining agreement. (AP Photo/Tom Mihalek)

VOORHEES, N.J. — Not that he’d necessarily intended it that way, but Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren had a relatively simple time this season finishing his Opening Day roster.

Though the Flyers had made an effort toward major offsesaon changes — at one point hurling $110,000,000 in the direction of Shea Weber — the roster Holmgren finalized at the close of training camp Friday was oddly familiar.

Holmgren confirmed Friday that rookie Scott Laughton, 18, will open the season with the Flyers, essentially taking the spot belonging to Danny Briere. Recovering from a hairline fracture in his wrist, Briere will be unavailable to play at least through the weekend, the general manager said.

“Danny will either be on injured reserve or non-roster,” Holmgren said, adding, “It is what it is. He’s not going to be able to play on the weekend but he’s coming along good enough.”

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The Flyers readjusted their defense, trading James van Riemsdyk to Toronto for Luke Schenn and adding free agents Kurtis Foster and Bruno Gervais. They re-acquired Ruslan Fedotenko, allowed Jaromir Jagr to sign with the Dallas Stars, and will have Michael Leighton as their backup goalie, not Sergei Bobrovsky, who was traded to Columbus.

Upheaval? Hardly.

“The guys we’ve added fill in nicely and bring something different to the table,” Holmgren said. “I think Bruno Gervais is a good stay-at-home guy that has a number of years of experience under his belt. Kurtis Foster can help us a lot on the power play and is another guy that has a lot of experience. So the guys that we’ve added, I think, are guys that go into little pigeon holes that we needed. And the bulk of our team is in place from last year.”

Under the rules for the shortened season, Laughton, the Flyers’ first-round draft choice, may remain on the roster five games. Then, the Flyers will have to decide whether to keep him or return him to junior hockey.

“Scott has continued to keep up with what we’re doing,” Holmgren said. “With Danny’s situation being as it is, it just gives us a few days to give him a bit longer look. Whether he plays or not, it will be a good experience. Even if he watched the game, it would be a a pretty good experience for him because it’s the Penguins and they’re a great team and it’s Opening Day. It will be a good experience one way or the other.”

Hartnell, for one, thinks the Flyers could miss Jagr.

“You play with somebody for a whole year — 80-plus games — and you really get to know a guy,” said Hartnell, a regular linemate of Jagr’s last season. “When he signed with Dallas, it was a little disappointing because I think he was good for everybody — his voice, his leadership in the dressing room. He’ll be missed. But it’s up to the other guys to pick up that leadership role.”

Jagr scored 19 goals in 73 regular-season games. He had one goal and eight assists in 11 postseason games.

When the Flyers play Pittsburgh Saturday, Hartnell will be on their top line with Claude Giroux and, now, Brayden Schenn.

“He looks good,” he said of Schenn. “He looks solid. He’s good at protecting the puck. I don’t think he’s nervous by any means. He’s going to come in and play hard and play well. He’s a big body and he can hit. So there’s going to be a lot of free pucks, hopefully, with him and me on the forecheck for G (Giroux) to pick up.”

Once Nashville matched the Flyers’ mega-offer to Weber, the acquisition of Luke Schenn would endure as Holmgren’s signature offseason move.

“I’ve been very happy with his play,” the G.M. said. “He’s spent a great deal of time with our coaches going through video and learning the system that way. Playing with a player like Kimmo Timonen has got to help him. He’s a guy that’s played four years now in the league. He hasn’t missed too many games. That’s a lot of experience and Toronto is not an easy market to play in, either. So I think he’ll be fine.”

Talbot, a former Penguin, remains close friends with Sidney Crosby. But they have not spoken recently, what with the Flyers and Penguins to meet in the season opener.

“Nope, not this week,” Talbot said. “I skated with him in September and he was ready to go and felt healthy. But no talk. I didn’t talk to them too much in the playoffs last year.

“I’ve got a lot of friends on the other side, including (goalie Marc-Andre) Fleury. But at the same time, in the playoffs starting last year, you don’t communicate too much with them. When it’s done it’s done. We have a big game coming up and you put that behind you and you try to beat them.”

For the first time in a regular-season NHL game, Giroux will wear a “C” on his sweater Saturday.

“Obviously, I think about it,” he said. “At the same time, it’s not going to change my game. I still have the same focus and I just want to go on the ice and try to be the best player I can be.”

Considering the long wait for the regular season and the Flyers’ Round 1 playoff elimination of the Penguins last spring, Giroux expects a wild atmosphere in the Wells Fargo Center.

“I wouldn’t expect it to be anything than like a playoff game,” he said. “That’s what I expect. But we’ll see. Especially in Philly, it’s going to be pretty intense.”